There are a few things you can do to make your PS3 last longer and the PS3 lasers are quite expensive so you should try to do at least some of these things to help your laser last longer.

1) If you’re not playing your PS3, turn it off. Many people leave the console on whilst doing other things such as having dinner, turning your console off will reduce the stress on the laser and other components which mean your consoles laser will live for longer.

2) Keep your discs clean and free of scratches, using dirty or scratched discs puts a lot of extra stress on your PS3 laser which will cause the laser to fail earlier than normal.

3) Remove discs from the console when not in use, take your disc out of the console when it’s not being used as this helps reduce the chance of disc jams.

4) Don’t use your PS3 to play music CD’s, if you want to play music from your PS3 copy the CD to you PS3 hard drive and play it from the console not the disc.

5) Don’t use your PS3 to play DVD movies, use your DVD player if you have one or buy a cheap DVD player. You can get DVD players for £20 and new PS3 laser will cost you upto £70, playing films reduces the life of your laser by many hours.

6) Try to keep your PS3 away from children under 5 years old without supervision as there is something very appealing about that slot in the front of your PS3 console.

“I wonder what happens if I put these coins in there?”

We have found money (most common), sky cards, lolly pop sticks, spaghetti, photos and all sorts of other random things.

These will jam up your disc drive and can damage your laser too.

7) Quit smoking, I’m not here to preach about the harmful health effects of smoking. But honestly smoking is very bad for your games console, the smoke in the air sticks to everything including your PS3 laser lens.

8) You can help extend the life of your laser by keeping it clean and free of dust, one of the best ways of doing this is by using a PS3 laser lens cleaning disc. The disc is put into your console and played just like any other disc but this is a special disc that also cleans your laser.

Good question, but because Sony does not reveal this kind of information we can only make an educated guess based on the number of consoles we have repaired.

I think the average lifespan for a PS3 laser is around 1000 Hours which is not very much, considering if a person plays the PS3 for a few hours a day and some people are spending 3 hours or more per day on their PS3 consoles.

Here are the estimates based on our research, of course this information is based on a small portion PS3 owners and may not be a true representation of the real laser lifespan.

The laser lifespan can be increased or decreased significantly by several factors, see our guide on how to make your laser live longer.

If your PS3 console has stopped or is having problems reading games, movies, music discs or other media types it could be due to a dirty laser lens. It’s common for laser lens to become dirty during normal use especially if you smoke near your console. Yes I said it, smoking is bad for your PS3.

The guide is for informational purposes only, if you injure yourself or anyone else it’s not my fault. Obviously by opening your console the manufactures warranty will be void.

Okay, lets gets repairing.

The first thing you need to do is power up the console and check to make sure a disc is not already in the PS3 disc drive. If a disc is in the drive please eject it because this will make the repair easier later on.

You now need to unplug the entire console and take it to the clear area where you can start the repair process. Just so you don’t miss this important part, I’ll right this in red. UNPLUG all the cables from your console.

Okay the first thing to remove is the warranty sticker which is located at the bottom of the console along the curved edge, this sticker simply peels off. Now you need to remove the little rubber foot as this is hiding a T10 torx screw. Undo the screw using the T10 torx screwdriver, on some PS3 consoles the screw may have a pin in the centre of it which may make it difficult to undo using the T10 screwdriver, if this is the case try using a small flat blade screwdriver to get the screw undone.

Now with the console laying flat, and the front towards you. Slide the plastic shield from right to left, it should move about half an inch. Now you can lift the shield up and away from the console.

With the consoles casing exposed you should be able to see some screws holding the top of the console down. Undo and remove the screws using pliers if needed not that the smaller one of the long screws goes into the rear right hand corner as marked on the picture. On the PS3 consoles with memory card slots you will need to remove an extra two small screws.

You can now lift the lid from the reast of the console, be gentle. Apply some pressure to the rear of the console as show in the picture and lift the lid from the rear towards the front of the console. Then you should be able to lift the lid off. Be careful at this point because those console with the memory ports will also have a cable front the port in the lid to the PS3 mainboard. Release the little flap on the cable connector at the mainboard end to free the cable.

The consoles internals are fully exposed and you can see your PS3 disc drive of the right side.

The PS3 disc drive is loose and is not screwed into anything, lift the drive gentle from the front of it and unplug the cable on the front left hand side with the black and grey wires. You can also see a cable that plugs into the drive underneath it, the cable needs to be unplugged. Lift the flap on the cable connector to release the cable at the drive end. Not the mainboard end of the cable

Your ps3 disc drive is now free from the console and is almost ready to have its laser cleaned.

Put the drive top side down (the circuit board facing you). You need to remove five screws to get the metal casing off the disc drive, two are silver screws at the back of the drive unscrew these noting which one had the metal spring type thing. Now remove three black screws at the front of the drive. You can leave the other screws holding the circuit board in place.

Flip the drive right side up and remove the metal casing from the back of the drive towards the front.

A small round white disc may fall out from the centre of the black plastic drive lid, put it aside but make sure it goes back in before you refit the metal lid back on later. The black plastic lid is held in place by five black screws located on near each corner of the drive and one at the rear centre.

Carefully, lift the lid from its right side and place next to the left hand side of the drive. A small cable attached the lid to the circuit board but I recommend that you don’t try to unplug it, It breaks very easily. Leave it plugged in and flip the lid over to the side.

Wow! You can now see your PS3 laser and the other items that allow your PS3 to read discs.

It’s not necessary to remove your laser from the disc drive so we will leave it in place.

You can see the laser in the middle of the drive it will have a small glass lens on it or maybe two lens in some cases. You want to give this area a quick blast with the compress air, you will notice that the lens appears to be floating try to give a little blast under or at the side of this floating lens because there is another lens directly underneath it which can get dirty too.

Apply some IPA (alcolohol cleaner) or glass cleaner to the tip of the Q-tip or cotton bud and gentle rub it onto the floating glass lens in a small circular motion. Now use a dry cotton bud and do the same thing to take off any dirt or residue.

Your laser is now pretty clean and should show some improvement when playing discs.

Time to put it all back together.

Put the black plastic lid pack onto the drive, fit the white circle disc into the middle there is a hole where it fits into place. The disc should have the metal at the top. Secure with five small black screws.

Now fit the drives metal casing back on, put it on from the front of the drive and towards the back. Secure with three black screws along the front underside of the drive and use the silver screws at the back.

Hold the drive near the back of the PS3 console so you can see the underside of the drive, push the drive data cable into the connector and secure using the little connector flap.

Lay the drive flat in the console and plug the cable with black and grey wires back into the front left side of the drive.

Now to refit the lid, firstly plug the memory port cable back if you have this model of console. Align the front of the lid with the front of the console and then lower towards the back. Put the screws back in and secure, do overtighten them other wise you’ll break your case. The smaller screw goes in the back right hand corner. Put the screws back in for the memory port if required.

Place the shield back on the console, if fits a little to the left and then slide it to the right to secure it. Put the T10 torx screw back in at the bottom and plug the rubber foot back in.

Many people don’t know that it is possible to clean your PS3 laser without opening the console.

For the older games consoles and other CD/DVD devices you may have seen these cleaning discs with little brushes on them that sweep across the laser lens to clean the laser.

Because the PS3 disc drive is a slot feeder type system like ones used in car stereos you cannot use these traditional CD/DVD lens cleaners because they don’t slide through the slot properly, you might get one of these discs in but you’ll have a very hard time getting the disc back out. Please avoid using these traditional CD / DVD lens cleaners even if they say can be used in PS3 consoles and blu ray players. Don’t take a chance.

However I’ve done some research into what options are available to clean your PS3 Laser from outside the console and I have found a disc based cleaning system which is very similar to the older brush type systems but it used something called cyclone clean technology, it appears to create suction right above the laser lens which kind of vacuum cleans your PS3 laser, The PS3 cleaning disc has been specially made by Digital Innovations so it will not jam in your PS3 consoles discs drive like the other cleaning discs.

If you think your laser has failed it going to need replacing, before you start you may want to check our laser diagnostics guide to confirm that the laser is in fact faulty and that the fault does not lie else where.

The guide is for informational purposes only, if you injure yourself or anyone else it’s not my fault. Obviously by opening your console the manufactures warranty will be void.

Okay, lets get cracking. Poor metaphor. I mean repairing.

The first thing you need to do is power up the console and check to make sure a disc is not already in the PS3 disc drive. If a disc is in the drive please eject it because this will make the repair easier later on.

You now need to unplug the entire console and take it to the clear area where you can start the repair process. Just so you don’t miss this important part, I’ll right this in red. UNPLUG all the cables from your console.

Okay the first thing to remove is the warranty sticker which is located at the bottom of the console along the curved edge, this sticker simply peels off. Now you need to remove the little rubber foot as this is hiding a T10 torx screw. Undo the screw using the T10 torx screwdriver, on some PS3 consoles the screw may have a pin in the centre of it which may make it difficult to undo using the T10 screwdriver, if this is the case try using a small flat blade screwdriver to get the screw undone.

Now with the console laying flat, and the front towards you. Slide the plastic shield from right to left, it should move about half an inch. Now you can lift the shield up and away from the console.

With the consoles casing exposed you should be able to see some screws holding the top of the console down. Undo and remove the screws using pliers if needed not that the smaller one of the long screws goes into the rear right hand corner as marked on the picture. On the PS3 consoles with memory card slots you will need to remove an extra two small screws.

You can now lift the lid from the rest of the console, be gentle. Apply some pressure to the rear of the console as show in the picture and lift the lid from the rear towards the front of the console. Then you should be able to lift the lid off. Be careful at this point because those console with the memory ports will also have a cable front the port in the lid to the PS3 mainboard. Release the little flap on the cable connector at the mainboard end to free the cable.

The consoles internals are fully exposed and you can see your PS3 disc drive of the right side.

The PS3 disc drive is loose and is not screwed into anything, lift the drive gentle from the front of it and unplug the cable on the front left hand side with the black and grey wires. You can also see a cable that plugs into the drive underneath it, the cable needs to be unplugged. Lift the flap on the cable connector to release the cable at the drive end. Not the mainboard end of the cable.

Your ps3 disc drive is now free from the console and is almost ready to have its laser replaced.

Put the drive top side down (the circuit board facing you). You need to remove five screws to get the metal casing off the disc drive, two are silver screws at the back of the drive unscrew these noting which one had the metal spring type thing. Now remove three black screws at the front of the drive. You can leave the other screws holding the circuit board in place.

Flip the drive right side up and remove the metal casing from the back of the drive towards the front.

A small round white disc may fall out from the centre of the black plastic drive lid, put it aside but make sure it goes back in before you refit the metal lid back on later. The black plastic lid is held in place by five black screws located on near each corner of the drive and one at the rear centre.

Carefully, lift the lid from its right side and place next to the left hand side of the drive. A small cable attached the lid to the circuit board but I recommend that you don’t try to unplug it, It breaks very easily. Leave it plugged in and flip the lid over to the side.

Wow! You can now see your PS3 laser and the other items that allow your PS3 to read discs.

Unplug the data cable that’s plugged into your laser by lifting the little flap on the connector, normally the flap is black or brown. The laser runs back and forth in between to metal bars you need to release the bar on the right side. It’s held in by two screws, one at the top and one at the bottom. Using a screwdriver should help to release the clips holding the metal bar in place. Take the laser out by moving it from left to the right and then lifting it out of the laser deck. The metal bar on the right comes out with the laser.

You need to use two parts from you old laser and fit them onto the new one, the first part is a small metal spring type thing which is located where the laser runs along the left metal bar (the picture will help explain better). Next you need to remove the white plastic laser arm and fit it onto the new laser, it is moulded so you can’t fit it wrong.

The new laser is ready for fitting.

First slide the metal bar through the holes in the side of the new laser, the lower the new laser into the laser carriage, slide the left side of the laser onto the metal bar. Important: make sure the metal spring thing is underneath the metal bar and not above it. Secure the laser in place by aligning the metal bar on the right side of the carriage. Screw in the clips at the top and bottom of the metal bar. Now fit the laser data cable to the laser push the cable into the connector so that it flush, a black line should align with the connector, close the connectors flap to secure the cable.

Put the black plastic lid pack onto the drive, fit the white circle disc into the middle there is a hole where it fit onto place. The disc should have the metal at the top. Secure with five small black screws.

Now fit the drives metal casing back on, put it on from the front of the drive and towards the back. Secure with three black screws along the front underside of the drive and use the silver screws at the back.

Hold the drive near the back of the PS3 console so you can see the underside of the drive, push the drive data cable into the connector and secure using the little connector flap.

Lay the drive flat in the console and plug the cable with black and grey wires back into the front left side of the drive.

Now to refit the lid, firstly plug the memory port cable back if you have this model of console. Align the front of the lid with the front of the console and then lower towards the back. Put the screws back in and secure, do over tighten them other wise you’ll break your case. The smaller screw goes in the back right hand corner. Put the screws back in for the memory port if required.

Place the shield back on the console, if fits a little to the left and then slide it to the right to secure it. Put the T10 torx screw back in at the bottom and plug the rubber foot back in.

The PS3 laser comes in a few different models, these a discussed below in greater detail

KES400AAA – This laser is the most common and was fitted in most PS3 consoles until the release of the new Slim PS3 Console. It’s often found in consoles that have 4 usb ports, chrome trims but can also be found in other models.

KEM400AAA – This laser is identical to the above laser and they are 100% compatible with each other, it’s unclear why the both lasers exists when they appear to be the same. It’s possible that the laser was made under license by another manufacturer.

KES-410A / KES-410ACA – These models of lasers have a different design from the previous models, the 410 lasers are found in later versions for the PS3 consoles and feature two separate laser lens. They were used for a short while before Sony return back to the 400 series for reasons known only to themselves.

PS3 Slim Laser (Model No. Here) – These lasers feature a twin lens setup as found on the KES410 / KEM410 lasers. These lasers are only used in the new slim PS3 consoles. Due to age of the new lasers its not yet known how reliable they will be.

The Playstation 3 games console uses a new kind of laser, it’s called a Blu Ray Laser. The PS3 Blu Ray laser allows for much more data to be stored on a disc the same size as a regular DVD but can the new Blu ray discs hold up to 100 Gb of data compared to the 9Gb of a dual layer DVD disc.

The PS3 Laser contained within the PS3 console supports a range of media including CD, DVD and Blu Ray discs.